1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle side airbag apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In the light of a characteristic indicating that a rear portion of the passenger is hardier than a front portion of the passenger, a side airbag apparatus that protects a passenger is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-201175 (JP-A-2008-201175). The side airbag apparatus is composed of an inner bag that covers, in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle, a range from the back of the passenger to the middle of the passenger's chest in a standard body shape, and an outer bag that covers a range from the back of the passenger to the front of the passenger's abdomen.
Furthermore, in the light of the similar characteristic described above, side airbags having a high-pressure bag that is located beside a rear portion (back) of a passenger after the completion of deployment of the airbag, and a low-pressure bag that is located beside both a front portion (chest) and the rear portion (back) of the passenger after the completion of deployment of the airbag (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-201172 (JP-A-2008-201172)).
However, in each of the conventional examples, the side airbag apparatus has a complicated structure, and the complicated structure needs to be customized to appropriately fit different vehicle models.